When I was in High School I was a cheerleader. Every Friday before the game, my friends and I would faithfully go to our friend’s house to get ready, go to Tbell, and then drive to our High School. To pump ourselves up we would listen to music that would hype us up before standing in the freezing cold for 4 hours. The music we’d listen to was for example Come Get Her and Money by Carti B. We would sing and dance to these songs but it was weird, we never got anything out of it.
Then one day after we were done getting ready and we were on our way to get our potato grillers, (side note: I’m so sad Tbell doesn’t sell them anymore, like they really had the audacity to get rid of the best thing on the menu… what a shame). My friend and I were talking about how much we love worshiping and how no other music makes us feel so filled and loved. So as soon as we said that we turned on some oldies from Toby Mac and wow we had such a great time singing in the car. The vibe was definitely different after what we usually listen to, then to the music that actually means something. We felt so loving and she even said how it made her concentrate on driving. It was so nice to share that moment with someone. It was so beautiful how we both recognized how important it is to listen to gospel music.
Fast forward to a couple of days ago…
I’ve been super stressed out lately about a lot of things I have to do yet before I leave for the race. And with working two jobs it’s hard to prioritize my time with what’s important at that moment and what needs to get done. I was in the car leaving for work and I realized it’s been getting dark really early, plus its rut season so I left really early (I work the night shift in case if ya’ll were like “does in it get lighter out in the morning?”). Well as I proceeded to grab my ice coffee from McDonald’s, I was talking to myself and was like “shoot dawg, I’m getting a lil nervous because what if a deer comes popping up and I hit it!” I said a quick prayer and remembered about that time with my friend, so I turned on some daily Christian hits and I was worshiping and forgot all about the dumb deer.
Then, that morning I was so exhausted. My dad called and wanted me to drive to my house and grab what he needed, and then drive 25 minutes to him, then cash some of his checks in the bank, then go home. My first thought was like bro, I just got done working a 12-hour shift and you’re gonna ask me to do it? Then I thought well my dad does a lot for my family and me so I have to do it, he needs me. I was so out of it, I went to the wrong bank and even put all of his checks in the little container and sent it up. I was so embarrassed by what I just did, I had to tell the lady I was at the wrong bank so she sent the checks back to me. After getting done with this I was driving home and at this point, I’m not gonna lie… I was no joke falling asleep at the wheel. I couldn’t wake myself up to save my life. I turned up my today’s hits radio and it still wasn’t working. So, I turned on a song I use to love when I was younger, it’s called “Give me your eyes”. As soon as I turned it on I kid you not, I was awake. I was signing and wasn’t tired at all. After I got home I just thought, “wow I could have gotten in a really bad accident but turning that song on really could have saved my life.”
Music is changing the world. I was scrolling through Tik Tok and half those songs are HORRIBLE, but so tempting to listen to. The beat, how society reacts to it, and what dances you can do with it. Everyone is so addicted to music like that, I struggle with it. So, why not listen to something that gives you the Truth and makes you want to do good?! A study from The Gerontologist says, “Findings suggest that the frequency of listening to religious music is associated with a decrease in death anxiety and increases in life satisfaction, self-esteem.” (Bradshaw, pg. 961). That statistic makes me want to only listen to songs that give me the good news. I’m also reading a book called Live by Sadie Robinson and she said something that will always stick with me, she says, “Sometimes when we’re trying to live our lives fully, we go wrong by turning to quick, temporary highs. We try to satisfy ourselves through things that will leave us high and dry instead of simply filling our lives with the promises of God.” (page 18). A temporary high would be bad music, it’s good at the moment but the next thing you know, you’re cussing and saying very provocative things that are so absurd. Robertson gives other examples of these earthly, no good highs and says, with those temporary highs, it always ends in pain, fear, emptiness, and feeling worthlessness. She’s right people, the only good things come from Him. And i’m sorry but turning on WAP isn’t doing us any good. after listening to songs like that i truly feel emptiness. The only music that truly fills me and makes me want to become a better person is innocent music.
So for the next 30 days, I will be only listening to music with no cuss words, or anything remotely bad in it. That includes 50s/60s, Christian, and some encouraging music. I wanna see how much it can affect me and what I can gain out of this! I’ll be posting a post blog about what changes I saw in myself! If you want to join me I’m starting this Sunday! Sorry if this seemed really long, I just truly believe this is important and it was heavy on my heart.
Thank you so much for reading and I will catch up with ya’ll soon!
-Kp
